Do biographies or historical books enhance your card collecting enjoyment?

[Georj]

Just got done reading "Fifty-nine in '84: Old Hoss Radbourn, Barehanded Baseball, and the Greatest Season a Pitcher Ever Had"
by Edward Achorn. It's the story of the HOF pitcher who pitched every game for his National League team from mid July till the end of the 1884 season and then pitched and won all three games of the championship series. It gives alot of insight into 1800's baseball and society at that time. Boy, were those players tough back then. It's a very entertaining read.

[Dpoolem3]

I collect pre war...then I started collecting Sporting Life's because I loved reading about these guys week to week and the stories that unfold...where else are you gonna read that Ed Killan got drunk one afternoon and went into the Tiger's offices and destroyed an office and had beensuspended...little blurbs like that

In an august 1905 issue in the SALLY league section is 1 little blurb about an outfielder for the Augusta Ga team that had reached 100 hits faster than anyone in the league, a Cyrus R. Cobb from Royston Ga.(Above it Bob Spade, pitcher for Macon, got $50 in gold from the citizens of macon for pitching so well. I have Nap Lajoie's first game, "he performed exceptionally", etc....fun to read about these guys in the media of the time)

[tonyo]

I read "the celebrant" by Eric Rolfe Greenberg... shortly after I started collecting pre-war. It really catapulted my interest in the cards I was collecting.

[oldjudge]

Just finished a biography of Pud Galvin